


They Who Cast the First Stone

by gintokiu



Category: Gintama
Genre: Blood and Violence, Crimes & Criminals, Gun Violence, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other additional characters to be added, dystopian setting, psycho-pass au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:46:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21698701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gintokiu/pseuds/gintokiu
Summary: After a second, Gintoki made a sound of approval, turning to address Hijikata. “Arrest him, inspector?” A nod was all that was needed, Gintoki backed up, proceeding to kick in the door’s handle; the three enforcers filing in, dominators raised high. All three shot as soon as the suspect was in sight, paralyzers making their jolting collisions with flesh, causing veins to protrude beyond skin. Grunts of pain filled the room, Hijikata observing everything from behind. Fujita Tadao stubbornly stood up, taking his battered hostage’s limp body and tossing himself and her out of the window.
Relationships: Hijikata Toshirou/Sakata Gintoki
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	They Who Cast the First Stone

**Author's Note:**

> hi school is hard and it's been two months since the last update and i'm really just a lump of failure right now because i can't seem to figure out where the hell to go on any of my stories when i even get the time to write. and also i'm obsessed a little with psycho-pass for like the ten millionth time in my life. it's a good show, kinda exactly my cup of tea because i like psychological and dystopian shit.
> 
> SO, on that note, i wrote this back in... 2017?― something like that, when i was still trash at writing. around the time of Nooses (god help us all with that one, big 'ol yikes) and since watching season three of P-P I went back in and rewrote some of it and made it less bad. it's not the best, just less bad. so now i'm posting it here. enjoy.

“Excuse me, sir!”

“Hmm? What is it?”

He saluted, posture tall. “I’m Hijikata Toshiro, I’ve been assigned to the MWPSB as of today!”

“Ah, perfect timing. I’m Kondo Isao. Very unfortunate for you to be assigned to us now, considering how short on manpower we are. I can’t treat you as a newbie,” The man said, throwing Hijikata a blue ministry issued jacket. “However, I’ve looked over your profile and you’ve got more than mere potential. I have little doubt anything will happen.”

“Ah, t-thank you, sir.” Hijikata bowed, hearing some hazy sirens obscured by rain quickly approaching in the distance. Now, being ignored by his senior, he slipped on the jacket, taking this time to look around at the scene. Drones held the citizens back, most of which were on their thin phones, fingers antsy, waiting to catch something interesting for social media. 

He’d been in their place once― the first time he’d visited Tokyo as a child, he’d seen the wagon come down, the men dressed in black, all wearing faces that could raise your hue just by looking at them. When the hounds come out, many people direct their attention elsewhere; too intimidated to allow their eyes to linger for long. However, to a young and learning Hijikata, the understood and accepted taboo of a latent criminal was nothing more than adult stuff, something he didn’t understand and didn’t have to until the time came. In that moment, those men were the living, breathing superheros, chasing down the bad guys in real life.

Nothing changed later on in life, either. Of course, he lost his child-sense of naiveness about latent criminals but other than that, his goal remained the same. After high school, he entered the academy and began his work, leaving little room for anything that wasn’t school. Hyper-focused, he only stopped to rest after the final test, the Sibyl placement exam. When the results came in, he was second in his class, along with a solid 695 on the test, A-marks all across the board. To any other person, the system would have left them stranded, with only a few measly and stressful days to choose their preferred line of work. However, Hijikata knew exactly what he wanted. That chilly Tokyo night all those years ago had called out to him day after day, he needed no time to think.

He pressed on the application button and then spent the rest of his night filling out questions, even the optional ones for good measure, making sure he was the only one they would consider for the job. His coefficient was clean, remaining a constant pale turquoise hue for most of his life, rarely faltering― he didn’t have to worry about that being a problem. He had a good record, good grades, he was everything the system wanted in the ideal citizen. 

He wasn’t surprised when nearly a week later, the Ministry of Public Safety Bureau’s Criminal Investigations Department responded to him in acceptance, telling him to meet them in two week’s time and to remain ready for updates. 

Today was the night before the two weeks' time was up, and it was mere luck that some man had decided to take some hostages and run off with them. He’d gotten the call almost twenty minutes ago, and rushed from his apartment building to the site, greeted by a scene near identical to the one he’d been so inspired by all those years ago. 

The sirens were now closer than before and when his mind finally exited its thought-filled haze, they were rounding the corner, a parade of eight drones followed the paddy wagon in two columns; stubby round metal heads scanning anything and everything with a pulse. 

“Hijikata-kun… was it?” Kondo said looking up from his holo before switching it off entirely. 

“Yes, sir?”

“These men you’re about to meet, they’re humans just like us, but be careful.” When Hijikata’s face blanked the taller man just laughed. “Let me explain. Their crime coefficients have exceeded the regulated value, they’re people of corrupt personality however don’t let that intimidate you. All of them are good men, some better than others, trust them, but stay cautious. If they even try to lay a hand on you, don’t hesitate to put them down with the dominator. However, I highly doubt that will occur, they know what would happen if they did.”

Hijikata nodded, attention fixed on the paddy wagon that had now stopped and was unlocking in the back to let out the men Kondo had been talking about. Drones were dispersing to their assigned locations, a black box had wheeled itself out from the side of the wagon and stopped about three feet away from the tent they were under. 

“We inspectors are the shepherds; the enforcers the hounds. All you need to do is watch over them and stop them should you disagree with how they are handling something. They’re pretty self-sufficient, so don’t worry about it too much.” Kondo stated, a reassuring and pale-lipped smile on his face.

The men had started to walk out of the back of the wagon, dressed all in formal wear a little too sloppily worn, if anything. Loose ties, suits unbuttoned, shoes scuffed and unkempt. They made their way towards the black box, the first one to get there placing his designated bracelet at a small scanner on the side of the box. The scanner verified him, the box transforming, an array of dominators holstered in the carrying box dawned on display, ready for use. Each man grabbed one then lined up just inside of the tent, waiting for instructions obediently. Hijikata could feel their eyes on him as he scrolled through the information that Kondo had just sent him on his wristcom watch.

“Evening, let’s get right to it, yes?” Heads nodded and Kondo motioned toward his wristcom. “Alright, I’ve sent all the information we have on this case to you, however, I might as well give you a run down since we’re short on time. Fujita Tadao is our target, he was flagged by a street scanner earlier this afternoon and refused treatment, instead driving himself into a bigger hole. Now he’s taken a hostage and her son, we don’t know her name nor her son’s but if we act fast enough, we could probably still save their psycho-passes from rising above an unrecoverable value. Also, keep in mind the drones can’t go in for back up considering the layout of this part of town. But first things first, we have our new inspector,” He motioned to his side at Hijikata, “Hijikata Toshiro-kun. He’ll be your second shepard from now on.” Hijikata slightly bowed, earning grins from a couple of the four enforcers.

“Alright, we’ll split up into two groups to cover more ground quicker. I’ll take Okita and Sakamoto to the west entrance and Hijikata-kun will take Katsura and Sakata and close in on him from this entrance right over here.” Kondo pointed over his shoulder, walking over to the dominators and taking one from its holster. “Let’s get this done so we can head on home, shall we? I’ll take my group around, Hijikata, wait on my go to start heading in.” As soon as he had finished his command, Kondo was off, the two designated enforcers following closely behind him. 

Hijikata sighed, exchanging glances with his two remaining subordinates before walking over and grabbing his own dominator. His vision quickly engulfed in bright, blinding teal, the monotone voice of Sibyl synchronizing the system to his mind. 

The silver-haired man, Sakata, had started taking off his rain-speckled jacket before throwing it uncaringly on the ground beside the table full of information, forensic bots, and other formalities of the job.

“I’ve looked over your application…” Hijikata turned his head at the comment, looking to see who had made it. The longer haired man was scrolling through the aforementioned information on the suspect, while the silver-haired man rolled up his sleeves in an unamused manner, eyes focused on their task, stopping only for a second to indicate he was the one who was speaking to Hijikata, then back down once more. 

“Second in his class, the second highest grade on the placing exam, A-marks for every job under the sun…” He chuckles under his breath, finished with his sleeves as he leans onto a table. “Yet you chose to come to the Criminal Investigations Department and be an inspector? I’m a simple man, but even I got more sense than that.” 

Hijikata’s eyebrows raised in retaliation at the poke at his pride, “A latent criminal is doubting my intelligence?” 

The long haired male glanced up at them, staring particularly long at his fellow enforcer. “Gintoki you pr―”

“Joking. It’s a pleasure to meet you, _Hiji-kun._ I’m Sakata Gintoki, and this wig here is Zura.” Gintoki stuck out his hand, which Hijikata reluctantly shook, the feeling of calloused and rough skin lingering on his own. 

“It’s not Zura, it’s Katsura. Katsura Koutaro, and my hair is a hundred percent real, mind you.” He said with an annoyed huff, sliding his dominator into his holster on his lower back before proceeding to put his hair up in a high ponytail, tightening it aggressively. “Don’t cause trouble, Gintoki. None of us are here for babysitting, especially not me.” There was a smirk from the other and before Gintoki could retaliate in some snarky manner, Katsura started up again. “Anyways inspector, it’d be wise to forget all you learned back at the academy.”

“Hmm? What makes you say that?” 

“I’ve been through the academy and I know what they teach. I know what’s it’s like to be in your position, it helps to just forget all you know; just let the detective inside you take over when necessary and everything should go smoothly. Though, we do most of the work around here so nothing should be too difficult.” 

Gintoki crosses his arms, face gone uncharacteristically stoic. “He’s not wrong about that forgetting stuff.” Hijikata’s brow furrows in confusion, waiting for an explanation. “The academy teaches book smarts and how to shoot a dominator. Only one of those will save your life.”

“I see…” Was all he could muster, still trying to figure out the shift in his enforcer’s demeanors. However, there’s not much time to dwell, because a second later his wristcom is ringing, a hologram popping up and displaying the name of Kondo Isao, to which Hijikata promptly answered. 

_“Shepard 2, are you ready?”_

“This is Shepard 2, I’m ready to go.”

_“Alright, commence the hunt.”_

“Copy that.” Hijikata hung up, motioning for the enforcers to follow, however Gintoki had other plans. 

The enforcer took the lead quickly, eyes darting at every person, every face as he ran. Hijikata wanted to tell the other to fall back, but Kondo’s words from earlier hung loomingly in the back of his mind. Inspect, inspect, shoot only if necessary. _Only if the dogs abuse their leash being taken off do you step in, that is your job as an inspector._ He told himself, watching the silver-haired hound pass his individual judgment on every person, dominator still holstered on the back of his waist. 

A simple man Gintoki had called himself, but that was a blatantly obvious lie. You didn’t need to spend much time with him to see that every inch of his body held a layer, should you peel off one, another would be lying in its place. He’d seen men like that before, but none like Gintoki.

Gintoki turned quickly down another alleyway, Hijikata, too lost in his own thoughts to see it happen till he turned back around and Katsura was turning just as quickly as the first had. Now following behind his two subordinates, he realized why he had the job of inspection. Once you let the leashes off people that live with them choking every minute of their lives, it’s hard to keep up with their chase. The freedom that is given, the look of a wolf in a dog park, running endlessly until it is chained up once more.

Ten minutes into the search, all three of them received a call from Kondo, informing them that the target had been tracked by from a drone flying above. Fujita was keeping the hostages in a room on the fifth floor of the Onyx Plaza apartment complex and didn’t seem to be on the move. Instinctively, Gintoki altered his path, Hijikata having no doubts it was toward the complex, so he followed. It was a short run, as soon as they got there the perm motioned to the opposite direction, Katsura swiftly breaking off from the group as they ran the opposite way. 

Hijikata panicked, not sure who to follow though his feet kept carrying him behind Gintoki. “What did you just tell him? How can I watch you both?!” 

“Don’t get your panties in a twist, he’s circling around to give the suspect one less escape route. That sound like a good plan to you, inspector?” Gintoki replied with snarkily grin and barely a break in his breath, taking out his dominator for the first time since he’d put it away. Hijikata just clicked his tongue in reply, following Gintoki into the apartment’s elevator. 

The inspector made his way into the elevator just as the doors started to close, even after attempting several times to close the gap between himself and his enforcer. The pace of his breathing compared to Gintoki’s was shameful, just something else to work on if he wanted to prove his worth to not only his colleagues but himself. 

The perm took to the side of the elevator as cover when they hit floor three, motioning Hijikata to follow his lead and take the other side. When the bell rang signaling they’d hit the fifth floor, the doors began opening, Gintoki darting through the moment he could get his body past them. Checking both paths of the hall, he ran to take the side of the tan long haired enforcer, who’d looked as though he’d just arrived. 

“What’s the status?” The silver-haired male whispered, taking the other side of the door while watching Katsura come in from the stairs at the end of the corridor. 

“I think he’s on some stimulants, don’t you? You get a whiff of ‘em every now and then.” 

After a second, Gintoki made a sound of approval, turning to address Hijikata. “Arrest him, inspector?” A nod was all that was needed, Gintoki backed up, proceeding to kick in the door’s handle; the three enforcers filing in, dominators raised high. All three shot as soon as the suspect was in sight, paralyzers making their jolting collisions with flesh, causing veins to protrude beyond skin. Grunts of pain filled the room, Hijikata observing everything from behind. Fujita Tadao stubbornly stood up, taking his battered hostage’s limp body and tossing himself and her out of the window. 

“Shit, he’s fucking insane!” Katsura cursed, running toward the window, sticking his dominator out. “We can’t make the jump and it’s just out of dominator reach. I’ll call if he makes any moves and make sure the hostage's son is okay, just go secure the target!” 

Gintoki and the other enforcer, Okita, turned back, nearly trampling Hijikata in the process, once more putting him at the back of all the action, which in retrospect, was probably for the best. The tan haired enforcer took the stairs, Gintoki and Hijikata once again finding themselves in the elevator that seemed lightyears too slow for the adrenaline of the minute. Gintoki leads them out the back of the apartment complex, the other enforcer near in pursuit behind.

Fujita turned back, seeing them and quickly adjusting the woman so that she was in the line of fire instead of him, a knife being placed at her neck marred by handprints and bite marks. 

“Drop the weapons or I’ll slice her!” Gintoki and Hijikata exchanged a quick look, dominators being placed slowly to the ground. With a chuckle filled with a false excitement of success, Fujita motioned for one. Gintoki kicked his over, hands returning up at his head, observing, waiting. Shifting the woman to one arm, Fujita leaned over and picked it up, pointing it toward Gintoki, who didn’t bat an eye. “You bastards, Sibyl ruined my life, so I’ll take yours!”

Dominator still pointed at Gintoki, he pulled the trigger with a roaring laugh of resolution and victory, however, the confidence quickly melted away. The trigger was locked, monotone voice ringing in his mind. Dropping the hostage with a frustrated curse, he threw the gun down onto the concrete, looming over her on his knees, the knife now raised over her beaten and bruised stomach. It comes down, catching only half of the skin it was intended to pierce. Gintoki had hit the floor and slid before it could go all the way, managing his forearm between the ground and the assailant’s wrist. 

She screams in pain, rolling over and away from Gintoki and the assailant. With his free hand, he punches the nose of the man, simultaneously grabbing and twisting on the armed hand, knife falling to the ground in response. The heel of Gintoki’s foot finds itself at the throat of the man, pressing and unrelenting in its quest to strangle. The man is trying to scream, the attempts only working half the time, and it’s over his head that Hijikata hears a loud yell; Gintoki rolls off the man simultaneously, and Hijikata is too caught up in the moment of it all to realize the voice behind him is Sakamoto until after the dominator had shot. 

Fujita Tadao’s body doubled in its size, swelling out of shape as it morphed into a giant, fleshy bubble. Then, the pop― high-pressured blood misting the air, littering the ground with lumps of gore. 

Hijikata couldn’t hesitate but fall to his knees after it, his stomach churning at the sight before him. Gintoki picks his gun up and examines it before proceeding to clean it off on his white shirt, the nonchalant normalcy of the moment baffling the newest inspector.

“Hmph, glad that’s over.” Sakamoto grumbles, lowering his dominator which was still smoking a teal vapor from where it had fired the blast of energy. 

“You can say that again, I can practically hear my bed calling me~!” Gin chuckled with his permy counterpart, putting a dramatic hand to his heart. 

The woman behind Gintoki screamed in terror, the realization of the events that had occurred and the jawbone in her lap now helping to plummet her already deteriorating psycho-pass. She crawled backward helplessly, slowly scurrying, consumed in terror and unsure of where to flee to. 

“What’re we going to do with her?” Sakamoto sighs, hand resting on his hip.

Gintoki held his dominator up, scanning her. “Sibyl says she’s a lost cause.” 

“Wait!” Hijikata states, mind finally caught up to the conversation. He steps forward toward the silver-haired enforcer, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

“I’m doing what the system is telling me to do, what are you doing?” Gintoki shot back, turning his head to address his superior, however not lowering his gun.

“She’s just a victim here, she shouldn’t be shot! Considering all the different treatment and mental rehabilitation plans she could go into, she could be reintegrated back into society in a year or so!” 

“She’s already a criminal. Check her hue color. There _is_ no going back for her.” 

The woman screams again, picking up the knife in front of her. Panic sets in on Hijikata too, so he pulls out his dominator. “Don’t shoot her, or I will shoot you.” 

The enforcer raises his eyebrows, gun not faltering. “You would shoot me, who’s just minding the system? She has a knife, dumbass! That alone would raise a crime coefficient.” 

“I said what I said. She doesn’t need to be shot and that is final.” Hijikata stated firmly back, watching the enforcers gun steadfast in its position. “Don't.” He reiterated, tension mounting behind his words.

Electromagnetic energy flys through the air and Hijikata watches the woman’s body go limp before his eyes― paralyzed, but alive. What he doesn’t see is who the blast comes from. 

Blindly, Hijikata’s finger acts on its impulses only, and it’s as Kondo rushes into the scene that he pulls the trigger, Gintoki and his dominator falling to the ground in unison with a heavy thump. 

His breathing is rapid, thoughts jumbled, every look he gets feels like it’s imprinted on his skin in scorching hot ink. He falls to his knees, mind fuzzy and filled with Kondo’s single reply played on repeat: “Inspector, you better have a good explanation for this.”

**Author's Note:**

> i have no clue what i will end up doing with this, all of my other stories up are my priorities and so they'll come first, but Stones will be the side thing i write on every now and then, probably. anyways, have a good day y'all and pray for the linguistic side of my brain because it needs some help.
> 
> (and i tried not to make it too similar to the beginning of P-P but i couldn't pass up Hijikata shooting Gintoki, i mean who could?)


End file.
